Sab's Cookbook

Dumplings

2012-01-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

I cannot find the specific site I used to make the dumplings, but I didn't use any one recipe anyway as I sort of made my own. They don't look great, but if you look up dumplings on google, and search out tips on how to fold them and make your own, you'll get there! It will take me a while to get better I'm sure.

Dough
1 cup flour plus 1/4 cup water (plus extra if you need, and extra flour for work surface).

Mix the flour and the water. Add a little water if needed. The dough should stick together and pull away from the bowl slightly. I read it is better if the dough is too wet rather than too dry, but it should be workable. Knead 20 times, then roll into a ball and place under a damp cloth for 15 minutes.

Roll into a log, and cut into 'rounds' (this amount should make 20, but I only cut enough for 12, so my dough was thicker, but that's ok). Roll into a circle shape using your rolling pin, place filling in center (about 1 Tbsp) and press filling until not loose. Grab the dough, fold over the filling, and pinch in the center. Then you can make folds all along one side of the pinch until you have a teardrop shape at the end, pinch that together, and do the same for the other side of the center. You should only see folds on one side of your dumpling, the other side would be 'flat'. Really, look this up. I don't thing it really matters how you close them for eatibility sake, but it looks kinda cool. I think this site may have some tips (it isn't the one I used, but I can't find that one now.) Boil until they float, and you are done! Serve with soya sauce for dipping.

Filling - What I used (not an actual recipe... haha)
1/3-1/2 cup (approximate) sausage (I used already cooked leftovers)
1 cooked chicken breast
1/2 Tbsp soya sauce
1/2 cup chopped cabbage (was already steamed and in the freezer...)
1 minced garlic clove
2 minced green onions
1 tsp rice vineger
minced fresh ginger... I'm guessing about 1 tsp? I just added a few dashes of the powdered/dry stuff.

Mix all the ingredients... make sure everything is minced really fine, and store in the fridge until ready to use. I had lots leftover after making only 12 dumplings, so I assume this would fill 30 or more. I am thinking I could use the rest in soup!

Tea Marbled Eggs

2012-01-23T08:54:00.001-08:00

I found this recipe over at Steamy Kitchen. It looked awesome, so I had to try it for myself.

Ingredients
6 eggs
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 star anise
2 tablespoons black tea (or 2 tea bags)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar

I halved the recipe... and I think that may be why my marbling wasn't very dark. It still looked cool, though! I also used different tea, since I don't buy black, which may have been another reason for the lack of dark marbling.

Boil the eggs. I steamed mine until they were done. Tap the shell all over with a spoon (lightly) to crack it, but do not break the shell off (she has some awesome tips and pics on her site... go check them out if you need). Place all the other ingredients in the water used to boil the eggs... as it should still be hot. Place eggs in the mixture, bring to a boil, and then lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes (this mixture smells oh so good!). Remove from heat and let sit overnight (she did 5 hours... mine sat for 13, haha, as I forgot about them). Peel and enjoy!

Almond Cookies

2012-01-23T08:43:00.001-08:00

For Chinese New Year, I decided I wanted to make some recipes that they may have usually for the New Year. One recipe I found that I had the ingredients for were almond cookies.
Adapted from About.com.

Prep Time: 15min
Cook Time: 25min

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg (plus one for brushing on top later)
2 1/2 tsp almond extract
whole blanched almonds (enough for one per cookie... or about 30)

Preheat oven to 325F

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, in a medium bowl, mix the butter, shortening and sugar. Add ONE egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add the flour mixture... dough will be crumbly and hard to handle.

To make it easier to form into balls, roll dough into 2 10 inch logs, wrap, and place in fridge for 2 hours. I didn't bother putting it in the fridge, and it still worked out well for me.

Take each log and cut into 15 equal pieces... making 30 cookies. Roll each piece into a ball, place on a lightly greased cookie tray 1 1/2 inches apart or more. Place an almond in the center of each and press down.

Brush each cookie with egg (lightly beaten). Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

Christmas Breakfast

2009-12-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Wife Saver Breakfast
adapted from a friend's recipe.
I made this recipe a lot smaller than that which was given. I'll post what I did. It's easy enough to modify for your own family.

Ingredients
4 slices bread, crusts removed and set aside
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup corn flakes (rice krispies work too... maybe do the Christmas colored ones!)
Shredded cheddar Cheese (about 1/4 cup... more if you like)
Ham (about 2 slices works)
1/4 cup chopped onion (saute it first. I didn't and wish I had) OR use onion powder... I just shake it in.

Place de-crusted bread on the bottom of a 8" square baking pan. Place crusts in corners to fill. Chop up the ham and arrange over bread. Add shredded cheese. Mix onions, eggs and milk and pour over the whole thing. Place in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chopped tomato on top of casserole, and spread the cereal on top of that. Place in the oven for one hour. And you are done!!

Toffee

2009-12-17T10:35:00.001-08:00

This is another one of my holiday favorites. A great recipe... I found this specific one online at Better Homes and Gardens.

It takes a long time on the stove, but it is well worth it. And it is a good idea to invest in a candy thermometer for this one.

Toffee Butter Crunch
Makes about 40 servings
prep 20 minutes, chill 15 minutes, cook 20 minutes (or longer, depending)

Ingredients

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted.

Toast your pecans/almonds. I do mine in the oven, allowing the oven to heat up to 350F with the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Do them whole... you don't want them to burn. It only takes 5-10 minutes (watch them, you'll know they are toasted when you can start to smell them a bit)

Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with foil. Extend foil over sides of pan. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts. Set aside

Butter the sides of a 2 quart saucepan. In it, melt the butter, adding the sugar, water, and corn syrup when melted. Cook and stir over med-high heat until the mixture boils. Clip on a candy thermometer (don't let the bottom of it touch the bottom of the pot, or you won't get an accurate reading) and boil, stirring frequently, on medium heat until it reaches 290 degrees F (or soft crack stage). Watch carefully after the 280 degree mark to prevent scorching (I stir the entire time to make sure it won't burn). Remove from heat, remove thermometer, and pour into prepared pan.

Let candy stand about 5 minutes and sprinkle with chocolate. Allow chocolate to melt/soften, then spread over the candy (about 1-2 minutes). Sprinkle with the finely chopped nuts. Chill until firm. Chen firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan and break it into pieces. Store tightly covered. Makes 1.5 lbs.

... and in my house, it doesn't last long. I may need to make another batch.

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

2009-12-17T10:34:00.001-08:00

I found this recipe online at http://www.make-stuff.com/cooking/peanutbutter_cup.html.

I changed it a bit as I found it a bit more difficult to do. Trial and error, right? It is a nice recipe, but very sweet.

Peanut Butter Cups

(Note: Recipe asks for 1lb powdered sugar, which is about 3.5 cups... but I found this to be too much. I could only get 2.5 cups into it, and so I think it should probably be 1/2 lb, or 2 cups of the stuff)

Ingredients
1 lb powdered sugar (use 2-2.5 cups instead of 3.5)
1/4 lb margarine (1/2 cup)
6 oz milk chocolate (1 cup of choc chips)
1 cup peanut butter

Melt margarine in a medium or large saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Gradually add the powdered sugar (it says to transfer to a mixing bowl, but I hate doing extra dishes, ha ha). Stir until well mixed and press into a pie pan... or in my case into about 3 dozen mini cupcake tins lined with mini cupcake papers. Melt chocolate and spread over top. Chill.

Note: Takes about 10 minutes to make, and 30 to press into the minis. Probably only 15 total if working with one pie pan, so that way would be quick and easy.

Banana Nut Bread

2009-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

This is the banana bread recipe I make on a regular basis with any bananas that look like they're getting a little over-ripe. It is delish! And easy too! (adapted from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
2-3 medium bananas, mashed
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350F.
Grease bottom of loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.
Mix all ingredients, beat 30 seconds. Pour into pan(s)
Bake until wooden pick (inserted in the center) comes out clean... about 55-65 minutes.
Cool slightly, loosen sides of loaf from the pan and remove, cooling completely on wire rack before slicing. To store, wrap and refrigerate for 1 week. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Chocolate Crinkles

2009-12-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe online at Better Homes and Gardens.

This recipe is rather sweet, but it is a good soft cookie. My husband says it reminds him of a cake/cookie. Another nice holiday gift idea.

Chocolate Crinkles

Makes about 6-10 dozen cookies... depending on size
Prep 25min, chill 2-24 hours, bake 8-10min/batch

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar (maybe cut this to 1 or 1 1/4 cup... very sweet)
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2/3 cup icing sugar

In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer, medium speed, until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Gradually beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half, cover and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Place icing sugar in a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1/2 inch to 1 inch balls. Roll in the icing sugar to coat generously, and place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are dry. Do not over bake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container. Store at room temp for up to 3 days, or freeze 3 months.

Schoene Kuchen

2009-12-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

This is, for me, a classic Christmas Cookie. My mom made it for us every year, and we'd help decorate them with icing and sprinkles. They are rather time consuming... especially since one batch makes about 10 dozen cookies, but well worth it. They make great gifts as well! This recipe is adapted from the Mennonite Treasury of Recipes.

Schoene Kuchen

Time: about 10 minutes to mix, 15 to start with rolling and cutting, and 50 minutes to bake 5 pans. As for icing... add another hour or two.
Makes 10 dozen cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cream (I use whole milk, since I live on a farm and it is more accessible)
1/2 cup butter (make sure it is butter, not margarine, as the taste and texture will differ)
3 eggs
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white sugar (you can add less... this recipe is rather sweet when iced)
4 1/2 cups flour, plus extra flour

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add liquid ingredients. Mix together flour and baking powder, then add to the dough. Add flour until the dough is no longer sticky (best to be kneading with your hands). Roll dough out about 1/4 inch thick (I do it in portions... 1/2 the dough first, cut out my shapes, and then add more dough until it is all cut). Bake each pan for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom (may need less or more time, depending on the size of the cookies).

Butter Cream Icing
(adapted for cookies)

For every 2 1/2 dozen cookies, I need about 1 cup icing sugar mixed with a small amount of butter (I'd say 1/2 to 1 tsp) and about 1 Tablespoon of milk (again, using whole milk. May need less). Add only half the milk at a time until you reach the right consistency. To ice the entire batch I use 4.5 cups icing sugar with 1 Tbsp butter and 3-5 Tbsp milk. I also like to add about 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla... depending on the strength of your vanilla. The icing will remain a little bit soft, allowing for decorating a bit longer. They may squish, but if you use less butter it will be a stiffer icing. Also, if you substitute water for milk (or half water) it will also be stiffer.

Enjoy!

Cakes!

2009-11-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, for my daughter's birthday party in September, I made a cake and decided to have some fun decorating it by making and using fondant. The following cakes were all decorated using ONE batch of the fondant. I still have a tiny bit left over, but I have to say that getting three really pretty cakes from one batch of fondant is pretty good, especially considering that making fondant only costs about $6, while buying the stuff from the craft stores easily runs you $15... for less than half the amount you get making it yourself.

The recipe I used for the fondant can be found on Amy's blog at Muddy Boots.

The birthday cake... I used the Wilton gel 8 icing color pack. They work wonders. A tip... after opening, place a bit of saran wrap on them before closing the lids to keep the colors a gel for longer... otherwise they dry out after a long period of time.

Cake for a gathering

Mmmm...

Cake for a baby shower.

Sugar baby... made from the fondant

One thing I recommend... I didn't do it with the first cake, and while it was good, the fondant didn't want to stick to the cake as easily when cutting it. The other two cakes were slathered with a layer of butter cream icing (I tend to put on less than they say to, mainly because I find the stuff sweet enough as is). Oh, and using my normal butter sponge cake recipe with the fondant was extremely sweet... the Never Fail Chocolate was a much tastier choice in my opinion.

Cookies and Salt

2009-10-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

Something I have never understood was the 1/2 tsp salt that was required for a batch of cookies.

They always tasted salty to me.

I've added less salt than asked for, and still, for some recipes, it's too salty.

Recently I looked up the reason salt is required in many cookie recipes. I found this - salt merely is used to enhance certain flavors in the recipe.

Makes sense. Growing up, we would add salt to watermelon and it would taste sweeter and juicier. My dad would add salt to his coffee and it would remove any bitter flavour that may have been there.

But still... salt in cookies?

I've started cutting way back on the salt in my baking, especially since learning it is just a flavour enhancer. Obviously, if it tastes like there is too much, there is too much. Instead of measuring out any salt, I just shake a little in. I haven't had a problem yet.

Then there is the issue of butter.

Now, I like salted butter. Always have. But I've noticed that the recipes usually do not specify salted or unsalted butter. If so, and there is salt in the recipe, I don't bother adding it. Why? The salt in the butter is MORE than enough.

There you have it. A little random food for thought.

Dinner for One

2009-06-05T20:45:00.001-07:00

Today my hubby went out with a friend for supper, so I was on my own. So, to make something simple for myself, all I did was put a bunch of stuff in the oven for 40 minutes and voila... dinner served!

Spray a small baking pan with cooking spray. Add a piece of chicken. You can shake n bake it if you wish, but I like mine plain. Add one chopped potato and other various veggies, sprinkle your favorite salad dressing over top (I used Italian), about 1/4 cup. After it's done, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top. Voila.

Make Baby Food: Step by Step

2009-06-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I was all excited to spend some time doing some craft projects after I put Baby M down for her nap, when I suddenly realized... no time for that, I need to bake, and make baby food, and exercise (plus, 5 minutes into the project I found out I didn't have the right colored thread anyway). I didn't exercise yet, but no matter. I figured I'd tell you all how to make your own baby food step by step. Make sure to read all the instructions first before you start (remember? They always tell you to do that for tests... and I never did, anyway...)

How to Make Baby Food: Apples

What you need:
6 apples
a steamer
a blender
an ice cube tray
sanity

Step 1: Pull out the steamer and 6 medium apples.

Step 2: Start to core, peel, and chop apples.

Step 3: Look at pile of apples left to do vs. pile of apples done and mentally try not to look at how much is left.

Step 4: Excitedly think how fast this is taking only to realize that instead of 4 apples, you've only done 4 quarters of an apple, meaning you still have 5 left to go.

Step 5: Grab another apple from the fridge upon realizing you've eaten about that much of your freshly chopped baby food.

Step 6: Put that apple back after almost giving your nails an impromptu trim, chalking it up to taste testing the baby food instead. After all, that's important to make sure it's good for baby, right?

Step 7: Wonder if all this work is really worth it. Try to consider how much money you are saving.

Step 8: Arrange all the chopped apples in the steamer as per directions. Turn steamer on.

Step 9: Make rice krispie square in the time it takes for the apples to steam (this'll make the man happy, right? It's kinda like baking). Realize that rice krispie square is quicker and easier than even steaming apples!

Step 10: Steamer is done. Treat yourself to some square while you let the apples cool.

Step 11: Get out blender and place apples inside (use the water runoff in the steamer tray to help get the puree thin enough). Blend/chop/puree them like a mad woman (which doesn't take much since the blender probably doesn't wish to cooperate anyway and is making you mad) until a nice baby food consistency.

Step 12: Pour applesauce into ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze.

Step 13: Wonder why you didn't just buy the stuff in the first place, then proceed to look up all sorts of crafts you could make with baby food jars to help you justify buying them later on.

Step 14: Do it all over again next month.

Notes: Make sure to label the container you put the frozen cubes of food into with the type of baby food and the date you made it. Also, instead of steaming the apples you could boil or bake or microwave them if you wish. I just love to use my steamer.

BBQ Season! BBQ'd Potatoes

2009-06-04T20:34:00.003-07:00

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything new! How sad is that! I never stopped cooking, so exactly what happened?

Anyway, it's BBQ SEASON! YIPPEE! That means all I need to do is prep food and clean up food, and hubby can do the 'cooking', hahaha.

We got a brand new BBQ on monday. I got it for my hubby as a late anniversary and early father's day gift. Yeah... real early... Anyway, it's stainless steel, has 3 burners (countem, 3, woah!), and it cooks evenly! Posted is the picture of our first meal cooked on the grill...

BBQ Potatoes

You can BBQ just about anything. A friend of mine showed me how to do potatoes on the grill a few summers ago and we've been doing this ever since.

First, chop your potatoes (and other veggies). I like to stick them in the microwave for about 5 minutes to partially cook them so that they don't take quite so long on the grill. Get a large piece of tinfoil, spray it with cooking spray, and place the veggies in a row down the middle (works best if you do only 1-2 people's veggies per piece of foil and just have multiple foil pouches on the grill). Add your spices, whatever tickles your fancy, and a bit of butter (again, however much you want). Make a pouch from the foil by grabbing the long ends and wrapping them over the mixture, pinching and 'rolling' them together somewhat... (I wish I took pics, but this diagram should help... I hope...). You should have a tube of foil with veggies inside. Roll each of the ends tightly to close them. Place on the grill, seam side up, preferably over really low heat or on the 'warmer' section (unless you want charcoal potatoes). Voila! "Baked" potatoes and veggies on the grill!

Of course you could probably grill them seperately with tinfoil, but what's the fun in that?

Tips in the Kitchen

2009-04-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

The kitchen is the busiest room in the house. Here are a few tips to help out with your cooking.

Reduce Potato Foam - Cooking potatoes? Spray a bit of Pam (or add a little oil) on the water to keep the foam at bay.

Rinsing Dishes - Use cold water to rinse egg, potato starches, dairy, and other difficult foods from dishes instead of hot, as hot water will set them. Hot water is best used for greasy foods.

Glassware - When using glass cookwear in your oven, decrease the oven temperature by 25F.

Clean your Counters - I hate cooking in a messy kitchen, so while things are going and I have little to do, I clean up the counter tops. Means less work after supper when I don't feel like doing anything. Another great thing to try to do is make sure the kitchen is cleaned up before bed... do the dishes, start the dishwasher, wipe out your sink and your counters/table... this will make cooking and doing anything in your kitchen a lot less stressful.

Soften Brown Sugar - Brown sugar tends to harden if it's not in a properly sealed container (Tupperware, oh how I love thee...). To soften it again, take a bun and place it into the container. Voila!

There you have it! Five tips for the kitchen!

Spritz Cookies

2009-03-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

For St.Patty's day I decided to make some themed cookies... however I didn't have a cookie cutter that would work. I suddenly remembered the cookie press I got for Christmas and decided to give it a go! There was a disc that looked like a shamrock, so I started to get baking.

Classic Spritz Cookies

makes 7-8 dozen (although I made closer to 10)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream butter and sugar, add egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat well. Stir together flour and baking powder. Gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make a smooth dough. DO NOT CHILL. Place dough into cookie press (I rolled out a 'tube' of it and plopped as much as would fit into the press) and press cookies onto un-greased cookie sheet (you'll need a LOT of these). Bake 10-12 minutes (I did mine for 10) or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on rack.

These were SO much fun to make! I love that cookie press! It is SUCH fun to use! Now I wanna have fun making all sorts of cookie shapes... Easter is coming up...

Carrot Ginger Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese

2009-03-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

So, I wanted to make something a bit different for Thursday Night Dinners. I found this recipe online, and since I had a spice cake mix, I thought it perfect to use it!

Carrot Ginger Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese

Ingredients
1 pkg spice cake mix
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 Tbsp ground ginger (do less if not fresh... I did 1 tsp)
1 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (I omitted these since I don't have them)
1 pkg cream cheese
2 cups cool whip, thawed.

Heat oven 350F. Prepare cake batter as directed on the package. Stir in the carrots, ginger, and 3/4 tsp of the cinnamon, and walnuts.

Spoon batter into either 9x13 pan, or muffin tins, etc. Bake less than directed on the package... 15 minutes if 24 muffins, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely.

Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with a wire whisk, or a fork, until smooth. Gently add whipped topping. Spread over the cake or cupcakes. Sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

Refrigerate the cake before eating. It tastes best when it's been in the fridge awhile.

Apple Crisp

2009-03-04T19:57:00.001-08:00

So, for dessert today I decided to make something with fruit since I hadn't had any fruit yet today... apple crisp seemed the best idea. I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook and adapted it for 2 single serving dishes instead of an 8x8 pan.

Apple Crisp

For one person (double or triple as necessary)
Ingredients
1 small apple
1 Tbsp (15mL) flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp quick rolled oats
dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg
2 tsp (10 mL) butter, softened

Peel, core and chop the apple and place in a small single serving dish (each should hold approximately 1 cup or more). Mix all the other ingredients together and place on top of the apple. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes or until the apples are tender. You can do it in the microwave for about 5 minutes (better for single servings... once you get to 6-8 servings though, go for the oven)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2009-03-04T19:32:00.001-08:00

I got this recipe from Kraft as well. It's quite tasty! Perfect for when you need a little fish on the cheap.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

serves 3

Place a can of drained tuna, 2 cups water, 2 cups macaroni (or other small dry pasta), 1 cup milk and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until the pasta is tender, stirring frequently.

Add 2 cups (I usually do much less) shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, or whatever you like) and a few spoons of grated parmesan. Stir until melted, then add 1 cup chopped celery and a dash of italian seasoning.

Food Saving Tips

2009-02-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but there are various things that I often find we tend to throw out of our kitchens when they aren't necessarily bad and can still be salvaged in some way. So, here I have some tips that will hopefully save our food... and our money! (wink wink)

Homemade Shake n bake
So, I recently found something to do with those crumbs that always appear at the bottom of my cracker bags. I LOVE crackers, so they are a staple in our house. Now, they quite often have lots of crumbs at the bottom... not loving those so much, until now. I recently made some popcorn shrimp and wanted to make my own breading instead of using that shake n bake stuff. So... out come the bottom-of-the-bag crumbs. Just save them all (chips, crackers, you name it)! Put them in a ziplock and use the rolling pin on it. Then add spices as you like for your own homemade shake n bake!

Sour Cream
There are lots of recipes out there that use sour cream, and when you bake it into something it really doesn't matter if it's a bit past the expiry date. So, when getting a bit close to the expiration on the label, try baking it into something... like sour cream coffee cake!

Bananas
I find bananas quickly get overripe for me to eat... so I like to bake them into things. Well, you can freeze them easily for that purpose... I prefer to peel them first and put them into a bag so all I need to do is dump them right into the batter! And to keep the bananas from ripening too quickly, separate them. I don't know why, but it seems that when they aren't in as close contact to each other, they ripen a bit slower.

Bacon
Sometimes we have some bacon that isn't eaten after we've made it... so, turn it into bacon bits! Ready for the next salad... mmmm.

Bread Ends
How many of us really care for those bread crust end pieces (ok, besides me)? Dry them out and use them in recipes that ask for bread crumbs! You can also use them in making shake n bake. I like using them to make meatballs or hamburgers.

Old veggies/fruit
I haven't yet started doing this myself, but it IS in my 101 list. Compost it! Yup, all those veggies and fruits that don't look too edible in your fridge would make some great compost for your garden! Nothing like turning veggies into veggies... or flowers... haha.

Yogurt toppings
I love Shreddies, and they often have crumblies at the bottom that don't go so well with my milk (can you say soggy and gross?). Blech. So, I started saving these and putting them on my yogurt. Great to add a bit of crunch... and fiber.

So, I hope these little tidbits help!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

2009-02-27T18:59:00.001-08:00

So, since we are not having any red meat on Wednesdays or Fridays for Lent, we wanted to still have something fun for our Friday night in, and pizza is always just the way for us. So, we had Margerita pizza, and wanted to have something else with it... but not chicken... something... fish. I thought, why not breaded shrimp!? Boo Yah!

Deep-Fried Breaded Shrimp

I'm not going to list ingredients here, mainly because it's super easy and didn't require a recipe in the first place. So, the meal here is a frozen margarita pizza from Costco, salad, and the shrimp.

To bread the shrimp, crush some crackers (or use bread crumbs) and add some spices to it, whatever you want (we used oregano, pepper, salt,). Put in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, put in some flour. In a third bowl, beat an egg till blended. Take the tail off the shrimp, dab dry, coat in flour, then egg, then the crackers. Deep fry until done! Now they're ready to eat. Make some of your favorite dips for it.

Honey Dill Dip
Mix together some mayo, honey, and dill. Voila!

Milkshake
Mix some icecream and milk in a blender. For various variations (wow... that's some fun with english), try the following...
Berry berry - add strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt of berry flavors
Vanilla - add some vanilla! To taste
Chocolate - chocolate sauce in there... awesome
Chocolate peanutbutter - add some chocolate sauce, and some melted peanutbutter... SOOOO good.

Pancake Day

2009-02-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was pancake day, and I'm sorry I didn't post this then... oops. Anyway, I have this 'from scratch' pancake recipe memorized and thought, why not put it on my blog? So here it is!

Pancakes

serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 cup flour (I use whole grain)
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
dash salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Drop onto frying pan, flip when bubbly on top. Serve with butter and syrup (maple is the best).

For variations, try the following:

Add one mashed banana to the batter for banana pancakes.
Add chocolate chips (1/2 cup should do) and a mashed banana for banana chocolate chip pancakes.
Add 1 or 2 peeled and chopped apples and some cinnamon (to taste) for Apple cinnamon pancakes.
Add blueberries or strawberries or a mix of both for berry pancakes. Blueberries will turn the batter blue... it looks pretty cool. Maybe have some fun with it and add some food coloring for the kids.
Get creative in adding different fruits and other things from the pantry to your pancakes to make them all your own. You can even serve them with ice cream, whipped cream, or just sprinkle some sugar on top.

Mega Meal

2009-02-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

So, today we are having people over to eat, and I'm in charge of meat. I recently made slow cooker spaghetti and meatballs, and loved them, so decided to make them again. I thought, why not try to triple the batch? See how it works?

It worked great!

So, now I have 68 meatballs (yup... I counted them... not often I make something in such large supply) in my brand new 7L crockpot (my old one was far too small for something of this size... you could make a meal for 4 in there, but not for more than that)! I'm one proud mama! And I don't have to do anything more with them! Isn't that awesome?

Oh, and I have to say I noticed I have 50+ recipes on my blog now! How awesome is that!

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

2009-02-20T12:02:00.001-08:00

Well, I found this recipe while looking through my Brand Name Cookbook for something to bake that involved bananas... and just my luck, I had a few walnuts left over from a previous recipe. So, I decided this would be the perfect thing to try as I've gotten tired of making the same old banana bread recipe already.

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I did 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white)
1/2 cup sugar (this is less than the recipe asks for)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 tbsp grated orange peel (oops... didn't have this)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 or 3)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup coconut (I halved this)
3/4 cup macadamia nuts or walnuts, chopped (again, I had less)

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, salt, orange peel, and vanilla. Beat at low speed, scraping the bowl often, 2-3 minutes until well mixed. Add bananas and orange juice. Continue beating, scraping the bowl often, until well mixed (about 1 min). By hand stir in the coconut and nuts. The batter will be thick! Spread into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 3 greased 5 1/2x3 inch mini loaf pans).

Bake 60-65 min for large loaf, or 35-45 min for minis, or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes and remove from pan to cooling rack.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs

2009-02-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

This is one recipe I plan to make again. I grabbed it from Canadian Living.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
salt
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I just omitted this)
1 lb spaghetti, cooked

Meatballs
1 egg
1/2 cup onion
garlic
1/4 cup each breadcrumbs (or use crushed crackers) and Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp each basil, oregano, salt, pepper
1 lb ground beef

Meatballs: Mix all except meat, then mix in beef. Shape into 16 balls. Bake 400F on foil lined sheet for 10 minutes. Put in slow cooker.
Meanwhile: In skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and cook onion, garlic, oregano, salt, stirring occasionally till onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
Stir in tomatoes. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours. Add parsley. Serve with spaghetti (and toast and salad).

Chocolate Truffles

2009-02-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe in one of my Kraft magazines and thought it looked good! So, I made it and found it tasted really good! Made a great Valentines gift.

Chocolate Truffles (adapted from Kraft)

time: 2 1/2 hours or more, 2 hours chilling time

Ingredients

16 squares Baker's Chocolate (70% cacao dark, or maybe try using bittersweet or milk, or white!)

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 Tbsp butter

icing sugar, chopped walnuts, sprinkles, etc

Chop 8 squares of chocolate, place in a microwave safe bowl, add cream and butter, and microwave on medium heat for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (it needed longer, I ended up freezing it till solid, then nuked it for 30 seconds or so, stirred it again, and waited. It solidified to working consistency within minutes)

Shape into 24 balls and place on waxed paper covered tray.

Melt remaining chocolate (do only 2 squares to start, then 1 at a time till everything is done so you don't melt more than you need), use a toothpick (or fork) to dip the truffles into the chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts/sprinkles. Or instead of dipping and sprinkling, roll in icing sugar or cocoa or sprinkles. Chill for another hour in the fridge

Ugh

2009-02-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

So, today I made 2 new things... one turned out great, and I will be making it again, and the other...

ugh...

I made S*x in a Pan (or Mississippi Mud for family friendliness) and it is FAR too sweet. I cannot emphasize it enough! I spent such a long time working on it too, and am super glad I only made a half recipe... blech. Hubby likes it, I could barf. I want to cry about my wasted cream cheese, the wasted tub of cool whip, the wasted almonds... the pudding doesn't bother me. I think it should have been made with whipping cream instead of already sweetened cool whip, and I should have put in way less sugar. I think this is one Valentine's flop... the recipe will be hitting the trash.

Spaghetti Squares

2009-02-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, I found this recipe on Kraft and since I had some leftover green pepper and cottage cheese in my fridge I needed to use up before it went bad, I figured... why not? Of course, as usual, I modified it a bit. I divided the recipe into two containers and froze one for later...

Spaghetti Squares

serves 8

Ingredients
300g (1/3 pkg 900g) spaghetti, uncooked.
1 lb ground beef
red or green pepper
1 jar pasta sauce (700ml or 3 cup) OR, since I don't have that I used 2 cups worth of tomato sauce, some tomato paste and ketchup to make the remaining 200ml
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs beaten
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350F. Cook spaghetti. Brown meat in the pan, drain, add peppers and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add pasta sauce.
Drain spaghetti. Toss with Parmesan, butter, eggs, and place in a greased 13x9 pan (or two smaller pans). Top with cottage cheese, then meat mixture. Add mozza to the top.
Bake 20 minutes until heated through. Serve with salad
From frozen: Bake at 400F for 40 minutes until heated through.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

2009-01-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from the Mennonite Cook Book. My mom made it quite often and it is great to make use of that cream that has gone sour, or maybe the sour cream that is past the expiry date but still 'good'... yet you don't want to eat it the way it is anymore... that sort of thing. Keeps us from trashing/dumping perfectly good cream! As my dad says, how does sour cream go bad? It's already sour!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour (I do half white, half whole wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

dash salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix in small bowl:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts (I usually omit these as I don't have them)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add well beaten eggs. Mix dry ingredients and add alternatively with the sour cream. Add vanilla.

Pour half the batter in a greased tube pan (flour it as well if you feel the need... I usually don't bother). Sprinkle half the sugar/cinnamon mixture over it. Add remaining batter, and sprinkle the remaining mixture over it.

Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

2009-01-26T14:01:00.001-08:00

I got this recipe from Kraft. I really love their recipes as they are simple and delicious. Please note that I found this recipe to be really cheesy and will probably put in less Cheese Whiz next time. Much less. Maybe only about half. And then I'd add some flour to thicken it if I felt it necessary... although it's good being just plain soupy.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients
1 large bunch broccoli
1 large carrot
1 can chicken broth (condensed)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup Cheez Whiz

Cook 1 large bunch chopped broccoli and one large carrot (chopped) with 1 can each of chicken broth and water until veggies are tender. Let cool 10 minutes.

Pour into blender (or use a handheld in the pot itself to save on dishes). Process until smooth and return to saucepan.

Whisk in 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup Cheez Whiz. Warm over low heat to melt the cheese, and do not allow to boil.

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

2009-01-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

I made this casserole for one of our Thursday night dinners. I was in charge of bringing veggies that week, and figured it'd be nice to do something a bit different. It went over quite well! I had hardly anything to take back home for later. (Adapted from Kraft)

Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole

Drain 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen spinach (or use 2 bunches of fresh spinach for the package of frozen if you wish). Spread spinach in a shallow casserole dish, top with 1 cup each of cottage, shredded mozza, and shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with 1 cup of bread crumbs (approx. 1 slice bread). Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Reese's Cookies

2009-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is one of my husband's fave cookies that I've made. I've adapted this recipe from the Name Brand Cookbook (I use way less sugar than they ask for).

Reese's Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I use 1 white, 1 whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F.
Stir together flour and baking soda. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in flour. Stir in chips.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoon fulls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then remove from sheet onto wire rack. Cool completely. Makes 3-5 dozen cookies... depending on how big you make them... ;)

Slow Cooker Chops

2009-01-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

So, here's an easy recipe that is great for the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops
serves 4

Ingredients
4-6 potatoes
1 onion
4 pork chops (remove bone)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper
carrots, mushrooms, or other veggies of choice

Peel and slice potatoes, and chop onion. Place potatoes and onion in slow cooker (onion can be at the bottom, or 'layer' it with the potatoes). Add veggies. Place chops on top. Pour can of soup over the chops, and add salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Voila... quick and easy!

Zesty Potato Soup

2009-01-12T18:18:00.001-08:00

So, today for supper I decided to make soup... but I wanted to do something different so I checked my Kraft cookbook and found this recipe... I adjusted it a little (cutting it in half as well, so I'll post that instead) and found it quite good! It's yummy with fresh homemade biscuits.

Zesty Potato Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 stalk celery
1 large carrot (or 9 baby)
1 potato
1/4 onion
other veggie of your choice (1/2 red pepper, maybe some tomato...)
1 can condensed chicken broth (plus 1 can water)
pepper
1/4 each milk and cream (or 1/2 cup whole milk)
1/2 lb Velveeta cut in cubes (I used shredded cheddar cheese)

1. Peel and chop vegetables and combine with chicken broth and dash of pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until veggies are tender. Stir occasionally.

2. Whisk in cream and milk gradually.

3. Reduce heat to low, add cheese. Simmer, stirring for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted in and soup is creamy.

Pomegranate Banana Bread

2009-01-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

Apparently, November is national Pomegranate Month in the USA. I didn't know that before, but thought it interesting. I love pomegranates, a friend I met in university introduced the fruit to me... I had never actually seen one before. Anyway, we bought one for Christmas and with the hustle and bustle of the month, completely forgot about it. Not one to let a fruit that good go bad, I thought it best to try to bake it (otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough). Lo and behold, my hubby finds this recipe on POM Wonderful, and since we also had 2 over-ripe bananas, I thought it would be the perfect thing to try!

POM, Banana & Pistachio Bread
20min prep
1 1/2 hours baking and cooling
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
1 cup arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 cups flour (I did 1 white and 1 whole wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2-3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shelled pistachios or slivered almonds, chopped (I didn't have these so I omitted them)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

3. Score pomegranate, place in a bowl of water. Break open the pom under the water to free the arils or seed sacs. They will sink while the membranes will float (I didn't know this until reading this recipe... would have saved me lots of time pulling those seeds out like I usually do!). Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup to put aside (snack on the rest... yummers).

4. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, stir together bananas, oil, milk, and egg. Add liquids to flour (and arils and pistachios if used) until just moistened. Don't over mix.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. You can sprinkle leftover nuts/arils over top if you like. I didn't bother (didn't have any left over... oops...).

6. Bake 50-60minutes until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove onto a rack and cool completely. To store, wrap it tightly or you can freeze for up to 1 month by wrapping tightly in foil.

Nutrients per serving (1 slice... don't ask how big the slice is because it doesn't say)

162 calories
3g protein
24g carbs
6g total fat (1g saturated)
12mg cholesterol
139g sodium (if you do 1/2 tsp salt... I always do less)

Stove Top Easy Chicken Bake

2008-09-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

So I made half recipes of two different meals that required one can of soup and one bag of stove top... and since I did halfers on both, I needed to make use of the other "halves" of the can and package.

Stove Top Easy Chicken Bake

Ingredients

1 cup hot water

1 pkg Stove Top lower sodium stuffing mix for chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup sour cream

3 cups frozen mixed veggies

Heat oven to 400F. Add hot water to stuffing, stir until moistened. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and veggies in a 13x9 inch baking dish and top with stuffing.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

2008-09-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, here's another new one I wanted to try in my Kraft magazine. I did this one halfers as well, and it worked pretty good. That just means I now have half a bag of stovetop to use up later... lol. And sorry I didn't get a pic of the casserole right out of the oven... hubby was so excited to eat that he dished it out before I had a chance, lol.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Ingredients
1 can (19 fluid oz or 540mL) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg (120g) Stove Top stuffing mix for Chicken
2 cloves garlic (I just used a bit of garlic powder)
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 400F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, and garlic until stuffing is moistened.
2. Layer chicken, basil, cheese, and stuffing in a 13x9 inch or 3L baking dish.
3. Bake 30minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

2008-09-17T18:02:00.001-07:00

Here is another recipe from Kraft's What's Cooking mag... I love a lot of the recipes they have in there. I did a half recipe because it serves 6 and we don't need THAT much, lol. I changed the recipe a bit too.

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream, divided

4 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 cups frozen mixed veggies, thawed

1 cup old cheddar shredded cheese (I used mild)

3 Tbsp milk

1 cup all purpose baking mix

- (I made the same amount of dry biscuit mix instead: mix 1 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sugar)

Heat oven to 375F. Mix soup and 3/4 cup sour cream in 8 inch square baking dish. Add chicken, veggies, and cheese. Mix

Place baking mix (or dry biscuit mix) in a medium bowl. Add remaining 1/4 cup sour cream and the milk. Stir until stiff dough forms.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into 6 mounds over chicken mixture. Bake 35 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and chicken mixture is hot and bubbly (I hand molded my biscuit dough until it would cover the top of the pot pie like a crust, and only baked for 30 minutes).

Unbaked Cookies

2008-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a recipe for unbaked cookies that I got from my mom years ago.

Unbaked Cookies

Bring the following to a boil and cook 1 1/2 minutes in a medium sized pot on med/lo heat:

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (I melt it first to make everything cook faster)

Add the following in order:

4 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
3 cups rolled oats and 1 cup coconut

Drop onto waxed paper or cookie sheet to harden. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Week 4 of Meal Plan

2008-09-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

Now it’s time for the fourth and final week of my meal plan. It’s been interesting, and I’ve already started on next month (however, I just wrote out the meals we will have, numbered them, and as we eat them we’ll cross them off as I don’t know what we’ll want when and when baby arrives we receive a few meals from the church and family as well… so planning won’t work as easily). Anyway, here’s the last week.

Monday: This was the day I made meatballs to have with spegghetti and pasta sauce. We got canned pasta sauce on sale for $1 at dollar days last weekend, which was perfect. I froze a little more than ½ the meatballs for a later meal… I’ll probably do the speggetti squash with the meatballs next time.

Tuesday: Time for chicken. We had some packaged teriyaki chicken from Costco that we cooked up, and I made enough rice for 2 or 3 meals which is perfect for later. We made salad with this.

Wednesday: Now we’re having fish. Again, bought from the store as breaded… yeah, I didn’t feel I’d be ambitious this week. The rice was great, as we took a can of mushroom soup, added ½ a can of milk to it and a cup or two of frozen peas (cooked the peas first) on the stove to mix with our rice. Mmm. I also made bran muffins and froze them for later.

Thursday: Today was a more ambitious meal… homemade mac n cheese. Quite tasty! I split the whole thing in half and froze one portion. We made it with pork chops which hubby bbq’d and some veggies. I’ll have to make this one again sometime.

Friday: The weekly tradition continues… this time we brought steak for ourselves, and a cucumber salad for the group (cucumbers mixed with sour cream and lemon juice, with salt and pepper and some tomato).

Saturday: It’s a date! Hubby took me out for supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory…

Sunday: Another day I don’t plan the meals for. We ended up having leftovers…

Monday: This day I made hamburger biscuit bake. I made a double batch of biscuit dough and used half to bake and freeze some cinnamon biscuit rolls. We loved those last time I made them!

Yes, I added in an extra day, as I had a plan for up till Monday the 15th as that is my due date. The rest of this month is “planned out” as well.

I have 3 new chicken recipes I’d like to try, along with the following that are in my freezer:
2 lasagnas
2 meatless lasagnas
1 alfredo sauce for shrimp alfredo
1 potato hamburger casserole
1 shepherds pie casserole
2 meals of tuna patties
1 meal of meatballs (will make spaghetti squash with it)
1 mac n cheese
Lots of pigs in blankets
Lots of buns (will make pizza buns)
Lots of muffins (fruit, bran, chocolate for gatherings)
Biscuit cinnamon rolls
Pumpkin waffles
2 pizzas
3 meals of teriyaki chicken
2 meals of fish sticks

Other easy meals include a roast in the crock-pot with roast beef sandwiches later for lunch, perogies and farmer sausage with farmer sausage burgers as a later meal, and there’s always burritos which hubby is great at making…

Homemade Mac N Cheese

2008-09-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I've never made homemade mac n cheese before? My mom used to make it, and I thought... hmm... why not? So, I found this recipe online through Mom's Budget and adjusted it a bit for my liking.

Homemade Freezer Macaroni And Cheese

Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups dried macaroni noodles
5 tbsp butter
6 tbsp white flour
3 cups milk (since I'm on a farm, whole milk is what I used)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 red pepper (or green), chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices. I used whole wheat)
salt (optional)
pepper (optional)

1. Cook macaroni noodles. Drain. Melt a small amount of butter and mix with noodles, to prevent them from sticking together (instead, I rinse with cold water). Cover and set aside.

2. Melt 5 tbsp butter in a large saucepan (really large), add flour and stir over medium heat for about thirty seconds, being careful not to brown. Add milk and whisk until thick (boiling). Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer.

3. Heat red pepper on stove in a separate pan, or in the microwave for about a minute. Add to milk mixture, then add cheese. Stir until melted.

4. Add macaroni noodles and mix well. Place in a casserole dish (a disposable foil casserole dish may work nicely for freezing). Top with breadcrumbs.

5. To bake immediately, place in preheated 350F oven for 30-40 minutes. Top with cheese if you like for the last few minutes.

I split this recipe into two, baked one, and for the other I cooled, covered and froze.

Instructions from Freezer: Allow to thaw at room temperature for one hour, or all day in the fridge. Preheat oven to 350F, and bake for 45 minutes. (If you split it into two, baking time may be reduced... I figure to about 30 minutes).

Serve with meat of your choice (ham of sorts is great, we did pork chops from the local farmer... and hotdogs are great for the kids) and salad or cooked veggies. To make it into a complete meal, add chopped ham or weiners with the macaroni.

Lasagna

2008-09-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

I've made this recipe a number of times now from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, and I really enjoy it. Of course, mine is a bit different from theirs, but that's OK. It tastes real good and is great for freezing. I like to divide the recipe in thirds and freeze 2/3 of it while cooking one portion. I forgot a photo yet again... this has been a bad week for that. However, I figure it's lasagna, and lasagna looks the same no matter how you cook it. ;)

Lasagna

Ingredients
Meat sauce
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 pressed garlic clove, or enough garlic powder to your liking (not too much!)
1 16oz can whole tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil leaves
dash salt

Cheese Mixture
2 cups creamed cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

9 uncooked lasagna noodles (or however many you need for layers... I use 12)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Cook and stir meat, onion, and garlic clove until light brown, drain. Add tomatoes with liquid, sauce, parsley, sugar, basil and salt (if using garlic powder, add here instead of with onion). Heat till boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until consistency of thick spaghetti sauce, about 1 hour. Reserve 1/2 cup.

2. Cook noodles unless using those that don't need it (I love those noodles). Mix cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley, salt, and oregano. Layer in pan(s) 1/3 of noodles, 1/3 of sauce, and 1/3 mozza cheese and 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture. Repeat 2 times. Spoon reserved sauce mixture on top and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cook uncovered at 350F for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. 8-10 servings.

Freezing: After cooking, lasagna can be covered and frozen up to 3 weeks. Cook uncovered in 375F oven for 1 hour or until bubbly.

Third Week of Meal Plan

2008-09-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty good about having accomplished this meal plan now for 3 weeks! I've figured out that when I make a plan I have a tendancy to stick with it, and since I've been posting it on my blog that makes me even more accountable to my plan.

So, this week was about making easy meals again, with some freezing as well.

Monday: For supper I made lasagnas, freezing 2/3 of them like I did the first week with the meatless ones. I love lasagna and it's been almost 2 years since I last made them... because I don't like making them, haha. Chuck was thrilled however.

Tuesday: I decided to make chicken and roasted potatoes. We grilled extra chicken for a meal later on. As always, I made this with salad.

Wednesday: Time for a quick easy leftover meal using the rice and chicken... leftover burritoes. These were nice and quick. So, I baked some coffee cupcakes to freeze. My dad made coffee at the party on saturday and there was 8 cups left over, so I made "Cake 1", a double batch, 1 dozen with coconut and 1 dozen without, and froze them (there was still about 6 cups of coffee left, and so I added water and poured on my outdoor plants... they apparently do well with coffee for some reason). I specifically wanted to make these cupcakes for an upcoming gathering I need to bring a dessert for.

Thursday: Now it was time for grilled salmon. Hubby made this meal. We had baked fries and salad with the salmon he grilled (he made a marinade to brush over of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and some spices). I love my fish.

Friday: This was burgers at a friends house... a weekly meal. Lots of fun.

Saturday: I didn't plan supper for today, instead I planned a breakfast... Pumpkin waffles! These are very tasty and high in fiber. I made 1.5 batches and am freezing a bunch of them for later. They make good meals and desserts... serve with ice cream for dessert, or with a white sauce for supper (very mennonite meal). I'm thinking supper today will probably be pasta... or fish... ;)

So there you have it... third week posted.

Pumpkin Waffles

2008-09-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

I've made this recipe once last year, and decided it would be a good one to make this year to welcome autumn... yes, I love fall! I don't remember where I got this one from unfortunetly.

Pumpkin Waffles

Makes 16 4inch waffles
Prep 15min

Ingrediants
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
dash salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin (or mashed cooked pumpkin)
2 eggs, seperate yolks and whites
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions
1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.

2. In medium bowl combine milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, and butter. Add pumpkin mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until just combined (will be lumpy)

3. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter, leaving a few puffs of white.

4. Heat a lightly greased waffle baker. Pour some batter onto waffle grid (be careful not to overfill as cleanup will be ... ahem... fun). Cook as per waffle grill directions.

5. Serve waffles immediately. Can also be frozen.

Cider-Honey Syrup: In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup apple cider or juice and 1 cup honey. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer uncovered 15-20 minutes or til slightly thickened. Serve warm. Can be stored in fridge up to 1 week. Makes about 1 cup.

Note: To use an entire 14oz can of pumpkin, multiply recipe above by 1.5

New Measures
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
dash salt
3/8 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3/8 tsp ground ginger
2 2/3 cup milk
1 can pumpkin
3 eggs, seperate yolks and whites
1/4 cup butter, melted

Easy Mix Cake

2008-09-04T10:24:00.001-07:00

Again, I forgot to take a photo. These are currently in the deep freeze, so I don't feel like getting them at the moment. ;) Got this recipe from my Kraft cookbook.

Mix-Easy Cake

Ingredients
1/3 cup oil
2 squares chocolate or 1 cup chocolate chips (see below)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup liquid (see below)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
enough add ins to your liking (see below)

Cake 1: semisweet chocolate, coffee, shredded coconut and chopped pecans
Cake 2: unsweetened chocolate, water, chopped walnuts and chocolate chips
Cake 3: white chocolate, orange juice, chopped almonds and dried apricots, plus a spoonful of orange peel
Cake 4: butterscotch, water, chopped walnuts

You can mix and match a variety of items from the listed 4 cakes to get your own creation.

1. Heat 1/3 cup oil and chocolate or butterscotch in an 8 inch square nonstick pan in 350F oven for 2 minutes. Stir with fork till smooth (if making cupcakes, put in microwaveable bowl and mike for a couple of minutes)

2. Add 3/4 cup each of liquid and sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/4 cup flour (I like doing about 60% whole wheat and 40% white), and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Stir together until smooth. Stir in a handful of add-ins, reserving some for on top.

3. Bake 30 minutes (20min if cupcakes, makes 1 dozen) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

Leftover Burritoes

2008-09-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry, once again I forgot to take a picture. That's ok though, right? They are burritoes after all.

Leftover Burritoes

Scramble one egg per person, add leftover meat of your choice (we used chicken), and add leftover brown/wild rice (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup per person). Add salsa (however much you like). Cook till warmed up. Spread into burrito (whole wheat is best) and top with cheese. Tastes great served with veggie sticks (celery, carrots, etc).

Birthday Cake

2008-08-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here are two recipes for cake that works well in layering. I made an R2 D2 cake for hubby's birthday using 2 recipes of the Never Fail Chocolate Cake and 3 of the Butter Sponge.

Butter Sponge Cake

Ingrediants
2 eggs
dash salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp grated orange rind
3 Tbsp sugar

Beat eggs until very light, beat in salt, sugar, and vanilla. Heat milk and butter to boiling point (I do so in the microwave till it starts to bubble). Add to first mixture. Sift in flour and baking powder... blend in. Bake in greased 8 inch square pan at 350F for 25-30 minutes (less if doing cupcakes). When done sprinkle top with orange rind and 3 Tbsp sugar. Turn off heat and return to oven for 5 minutes (I don't usually bother with the orange rind and sugar at the end).

Never Fail Chocolate Cake

Ingrediants
2 Tbsp butter melted with
5 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup white sugar
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla

Break one egg into measuring cup and fill with milk (1 cup). Sift dry ingredients. Add milk and egg, then butter/cocoa mixture. Mix well. Bake in 8 inch square pan in 350F oven for 30 minutes.

To Make R2 D2 cake

Make 3 batches of butter sponge. Bake in the following size pans: 2x 6 or 7 inch round pans and one 8 inch square pan. Make 2 batches Never Fail Chocolate. Bake in one 6 or 7 inch round pan and one bowl or half round pan that is the same size as the rounds.
Once cakes are baked, layer one white and one chocolate round layer. Place wood dowels or shishcabob picks into the cake and place a cardboard layer on top (cut a bit smaller than the cake and covered in tinfoil. Spray before putting on). Then put the last white layer and the chocolate bowl cake on top to make a dome. Cut the legs of R2 out of the square. Also cut a small triangular piece for the front of R2.

Ice the dome portion of the cake using your fave icing (I made butter icing using 1/4 cup softened butter, 4 1/2 cups icing sugar mixed into it, add 1 tsp vanilla and then add milk until spreading consistancy, about 3 Tbsp). Keep it white and just cover the round cake layers (not the "dome") with the icing for now. Add the legs to the cake using toothpicks to "fasten" into place. Also add the triangle piece. Cover these pieces with white icing. Add enough black coloring to the remaining icing to make a silvery grey color. Cover the dome. Pipe this icing (thinning if necessary) to the bottom of the cake. Make more icing if necessary and add enough blue coloring to make bright blue icing. Ice the blue sections around the head, the top, the back, and the legs. I used a toothpick to "cut" the pattern of panels and such into the current icing on the cake. This adds a 3D effect. Fill those panels that need to be blue.

Once done that, out of silver paper make the vents, fans, and the lights on top of R2 D2's head and use icing to fasten the "flat" pieces. The lights can just be "plugged" into it. If you have black shoestring licorice (I do not) use them as the wires on the legs. It's easier to decorate the cake if you have a pic of the unit in front of you.

There you have it. One R2 D2 ready to eat.

Here are two other cakes I made using these recipes. Enjoy, and have fun baking.

The Second Week

2008-08-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

So, this week I did something different. I didn't make a lot to freeze, but I did do some.

Monday: I made mashed potatoes and chicken with veggies. Made triple the potatoes and put 2/3 in the fridge for later meals.

Tuesday: Burritoes for today. We make the meat with 1 lb hamburger, a can of red kidney beans, onions, and tomato paste, ketchup, spices, etc. We put 2/3 of it into the fridge yet again.

Wednesday: This is the supper with friends day yet again. Loads of fun!

Thursday: This is where I used the leftovers. I made 2 leftover casseroles and froze one of them. I also baked a lot of cake... 5 batches to make a birthday cake for my hubby's 30th birthday party I planned for Saturday. Ended up freezing about half of it.

Friday: We made pizza. I planned on making stirfry, but decorating hubby's cake took so much time I forgot to make the rice which takes an hour (I do NOT make minute rice). Instead, I made the stirfry Sunday (today)... with extra rice for one of next week's meals.

Saturday: This was hubby's birthday party... even though it is 3 weeks early. I brought out the tie fighter pigs in a blanket I made using the bun dough from last week's baking. There were veggies, cake, chips, and a meat and cheese tray a friend brought. Not to mention punch (made using 2 cans orange juice, 4 of water, 1L of ginger ale, and some scoops of raspberry sherbet). Here's a pic of the cake.

And today was the stir fry... from friday's plan. Again, not a lot went into the freezer, but this week was focussing on hubby's birthday party and trying to get the meals later in the week to be easier so I could focus on that cake... which took 6 hours work to finish. Crazy.

One Week Cooking Schedule: Freezer Foods

2008-08-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

As I've been getting closer to my due date, I've been trying to come up with a few meals I can make that can go into the freezer for the first few weeks after the baby is born... to make things easier on us. I decided to do a one month meal plan, starting a month before my due date, and in the process hope to make meals that I can do "double" of, and freeze the second portion. It means a lot less cooking in the long run. Plus, since it's just the two of us, it makes things easier since most recipes are for 4-8 people.

This was the schedule for this last week, including links to the recipes which are already posted on the site.

Monday: Using the versatile biscuit dough, I made pigs in a blanket and cinnamon rolls. I froze only a few to see how it would take to the freezer. It worked out just fine, as we had the remaining bits for lunch a few days later. Much better than keeping biscuits on the counter anyway.

Tuesday: I made a quick supper here, just mac n cheese. What I did freeze for later was the banana blueberry muffins.

Wednesday: I made whole wheat buns, and we had a few of them for a faspa-like supper. For those who don't know, faspa is a mennonite name for a meal that consists of buns, preserves, pickles, cheese, and now we usually include peanutbutter, cookies and such. I made 1 1/2 batch of buns and turned some of them into pigs in a blanket as well for freezing. I know already that those will work just fine.

Thursday: Here I made the hamburger potato casserole from the mix n match potato casserole recipe. As always, I cooked the one and froze the other, making sure to mark the temperature and time for cooking right on the container to make things easier when we pull it out of the deep freeze.

Friday: Here I made a batch of tangy tuna patties, freezing 2/3 of it and making only two of the patties, which I made a larger size to work well on buns as a burger of sorts. These are easy to cook, and without needing a recipe, it'll make a quick easy fish meal later.

Saturday: Today I made meatless lasagna, seperating it into thirds and freezing 2 of them while baking the one. I bought reusable aluminum pans with lids for the job, and they work really well. I will use the remaining 3 for the lasagnas I plan on making in another week or two. Again, on the lids I marked the date made plus the cooking time and temperature.

Sunday I leave free, and lunches as well.

Another freezing tip: It's always nice to seperate meals into each of their own bags or containers. I like making sauces, make double, and freeze half in it's own bag (it freezes better this way as you can make it flat, and thaw it in a bowl in the bag in lukewarm water). I always mark the date made, what is in the bag/container, and if needed, the cooking time and temperature.

Tangy Tuna Patties

2008-08-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from another website... I cannot remember which, I've had it for so long (if it happens to be yours, feel free to comment and say as much! I love it). I changed it a bit depending on what I have in my fridge. It's quite tasty!

Tangy Tuna Patties

Ingredients

12 ounces canned tuna, water packed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp chili sauce (we used a chicken spicy sweet chili sauce... very tasty)
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish (I used dijon mustard)
1-2 cups oatmeal (regular is better than quick cooking)
ground pepper

Combine all ingredients except oatmeal in a large bowl, mix well.
Mix in 1/4 cup oatmeal at a time until mixture is a good texture to form patties (moist, not drippy)
Place bowl in fridge for 10 minutes to make it easier to make patties.
Form mixture into a ball with your hands (makes about 9 total) and flatten into a pattie and fry on medium heat on the stove. We've also grilled them on an indoor grill (they'd fall through a BBQ).
Serve by itself with tarter sauce and rice and steamed veggies, or do like in the picture and make into a fish burger with tartar sauce and serve with salad and fries.

Whole Wheat Buns

2008-08-23T17:00:00.001-07:00

This recipe I got from my mom. It is really good, but I do still find mixing the bun dough to be a challenge.

Whole Wheat Buns

Mix the following:
4 cups warm water
1 cup oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/3 cup molasses
2 eggs

Mix the following (in seperate bowl):
3 cups white flour
5 Tbsp fast rising yeast
2 tsp salt (usually, I do 1/2 this or less)

Throw dry mixture into wet mixture and mix. Add whole wheat flour (about 7 cups) until right consistancy (not "sticky", rollable). Roll into buns and let rise under a towel until "light" (looking double the size... or more). Bake in 350F oven for 15-20minutes. If doing bread, do 45 minutes.

Meatless Lasagna

2008-08-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from Amanda Beale from Babyzone's forums! Thanks Amanda! I broke it into 3 pans, about bread loaf size, and froze two for later.

Meatless Lasagna

Ingrediants

filling
1 cup cottage cheese
1 jar pasta sauce (about 700mL or just less than 3 cups)
1 grated zucchini
1 package frozen spinach (optional)
1 can mushrooms (or fresh, again optional)
grated carrots (optional)

Lasagna noodles (about 12)
shredded mozza cheese
grated parmesan cheese

1. Mix filling ingrediants
2. Layer pan with the following: 1/3 noodles, 1/3 filling, mozza cheese. Repeat 2 more times.
3. Add parmesan cheese to top if desired.
4. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

This is a rather flexible recipe. I added spinach to mine (didn't feel like grating carrots and had no mushrooms left... sigh). It takes about 1 hour total time from start of prep till ready to serve. Serve with salad and toast or breadsticks.

Versatile Biscuit Dough

2008-08-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

So, today for supper I decided to make some pigs in a blanket... using biscuit dough. Along for the ride came these quick little cinnamon rolls. So, you get an appetizer and dessert (or tomorrows breakfast) all in one little handy dandy recipe. Want to try? (biscuit dough recipe from my mom)

Versatile Biscuits

Ingrediants

3 cups flour (I used 2 whole wheat and 1 white)
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
dash salt
2 Tbsp lard
1 1/4 cup milk

Mix all dry ingrediants. Cut in lard until small 'crumbs' appear. Add milk, stir. Knead on floured surface (or in the bowl, whatever works for you) 10-20 times or until even consistancy. Roll out 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1 1/2" squares. Bake 10-12 minutes at 425F until lightly browned on top.

Pigs in a Blanket

Cut weiners/sausages (if sausage, cook a little first) in half, roll into dough (thinner dough is better... I did mine a bit thick). Basically, 1"x2" pieces. Bake 10-15 minutes (or until browned on top).

Cinnamon Rolls

If doing all dough as cinnamon rolls, roll in a 16" x 10" square. Mix 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon together. Spread on dough leaving 1" along the long side. Roll from the other side to the empty edge (if you wish to add raisins, do so before rolling). Cut roll into 12-16 pieces. Place together in a round pan, or put in muffin tins. Bake until browned in center (mine needed almost 20minutes).

Leftover Casserole

2008-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today my parents and sis came over for lunch and I needed to make something that would be ready after church. We had burritos the night before, and there was so much meat left over (we always do 1 lb hamburger with 1 can of beans... last night we used black beans) that I decided to make something with that instead of trying to defrost meat... as I forgot to take some out the night before. Oops. And oops again as I don't have a picture... hey, it's a casserole! Kind of resembles Shepherds Pie.

Leftover Hamburger Casserole

Ingredients
-3 cups leftover meat mixture (thick chili)
-8 medium potatoes, mashed (I like to add a bit of butter, some milk, and any sour cream, salt and pepper to taste)
-frozen mixed veggies of your choice

1. Cook the veggies in the microwave. I like using 1/2 cup per person (I had 3 cups). Usually takes only 5 minutes. Drain.

2. In a greased 9x13 pan place the meat, then layer the veggies on top with the mashed potatoes on last. Sprinkle some cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top.

3. Cover and bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes. Serve with green salad and bread/buns. Makes enough for 6... at least in my family! ;)

Sweets and Snacks

2008-07-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the sweet recipes, as well as good party snack foods.

Cookies
Carrot Coconut Cookies
Cream Cheese Cookies
Reese's Cookies
Spritz Cookies
Unbaked Cookies

Muffins and Cakes
Banana Blueberry Muffins
Banana Macadamia Nut Bread
Bran Muffins
Butter Sponge Cake
Carrot Ginger Cake
Cocoa Fudge Cake
Easy Mix Cakes
Never Fail Chocolate Cake
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Zucchini Bread/cake

Fondant/pics of cakes with fondant

Squares / Desserts
Apple Crisp
Granola Bars
Easy Chocolate Brownies (top recipe in link)

Other Snacks and appetizers
Chocolate Truffles
Deep Fried Popcorn Shrimp (plus various other appetizers)
Spinach Dip (bottom recipe in link)

Meals and Sides

2008-07-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of different meals and side dishes.

Fish
Fabulous Fillet of Salmon
Salmon with Brown Rice Pilaf
Shrimp Pasta
Skillet Salmon
Tangy Tuna Patties
Tuna Noodle Casserole

Complete Meal
Bruschetta Chicken Bake
Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie
Cheesy Tortilla Bake
Chicken Dinner for One
Hamburger Biscuit Bake
Homemade Mac N Cheese
Leftover Hamburger Casserole
Meatless Lasagna
Mix n Match Cheesy Burritos
Mix and Match Potato Dinners
Shrimp Pasta
Slow Cooker Chops
Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs
Spaghetti Squares
Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
Stove Top Easy Chicken Bake

Soups and Sides
BBQ Potatoes
Black Bean Soup and Greek Salad
Cabbage Soup
Cheese-and-Spinach Casserole
Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Homemade Mac N Cheese
Roasted Potatoes
Zesty Potato Soup

Breakfast
Pancakes

Appetizer Meal - breaded shrimp, (includes milkshake, dip, pizza and salad)

Breads and Muffins

2008-07-13T16:50:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of recipes that fall into the category of breads and muffins, and along with that, they make great breakfast foods.

Banana Blueberry Muffins
Banana Macadamia Nut Bread
Bran Muffins
Pancakes
Pomegranate Banana Bread
Pumpkin Waffles
Versatile Biscuit Dough
Whole Wheat Buns
Whole Wheat Waffles
Zucchini Bread

Healthy Recipes

2008-07-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of recipes that make my "healthy" list. Not necessarily diet, but a healthier version of something we could otherwise eat.

Adding more fiber
Black Bean Soup and Greek Salad
Bran muffins
Granola Bars
Whole Wheat Buns
Whole Wheat Waffles

Fish
Salmon with Brown Rice Pilaf
Shrimp Pasta

Adding more veggies/fruits
Banana Blueberry Muffins
Black Bean Soup and Greek Salad
Cabbage Diet Soup
Carrot Coconut Cookies
Cheesy Burritos
Meatless Lasagna
Speggheti Squash and Meatballs
Zucchini bread/cake

Whole Wheat Waffles

2008-07-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe off the Homestead Happenings website. It is so good I had to post it. We've made it many times before, and decided to make it for breakfast this morning. I find them light and fluffy fresh, and when we're done we freeze the rest and use them like eggos in the morning... just they are so much tastier (yes, I've had eggos... can't stand them as they taste very fake).

Whole Wheat Waffles
Ingredients
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 beaten egg yolks
3 1/2 cups milk
1 cup melted butter
4 stiffly beaten egg whites

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine egg yolks, milk, and butter. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients. Gently fold in your egg whites. The whites do not need to be well mixed, it is fine to see a few fluffy bits in the batter. Bake in your waffle iron until golden brown.

These freeze well. Package them in between wax paper into your freezer bags so you can grab as many as you need.

We like to make a strawberry sauce for them. Take 2 cups of strawberries (we use frozen), mash them in a small saucepan and add 1/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and cook 5 minutes. Cool slightly. You can add whipped cream on top of that yet if you wish.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2008-06-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

I made this "new" recipe today because it looked good with two types of fruit in there... and I needed to use up my two overripe bananas. It turned out great! I got it from my "Favorite Brand Name Cookbook".

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients
2 extra ripe bananas, peeled
2 eggs
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 cup blueberries
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cup flour (I did half white, half whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon dash salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Puree bananas (I just used the electric mixer in the bowl till done). In medium bowl, combine bananas, eggs, sugar, and butter until well blended. Stir in blueberries and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until evenly moistened.
4. Spoon into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Fabulous Fillet of Salmon

2008-06-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

For supper today I made salmon. This recipe is somewhat similar to something I've made before, but it is NOT the same recipe. I actually really enjoyed it. Since Chuck came in from the field and needed to eat and go, I missed taking a pic, so this is the pic from the recipe itself. I got this recipe from the Milk calendar. I halved the recipe and served it with steamed rice. Perfect for 2.

Fabulous Fillet of Salmon

Ingredients
4 thick salmon fillets
2 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 sweet red pepper, cut into strips (I didn't have this, used celery)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened (1/2 brick)
1 1/2 cups milk
grated rind of 1 lemon (didn't have this, so I omitted it)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives, or 1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 13x9 inch baking dish.
2. Place salmon in dish, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle carrots and pepper over and around fish.
3. In bowl, using electric mixer, beat flour and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in milk, then lemon rind, dill, salt and pepper. Pour over salmon and veggies. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and salmon flakes easily with a fork. Broil if desired until golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve over rice, and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Prep: 10 min
Bake time: 15 min
4 servings.

Cocoa Fudge Cake - Happy Father's day!

2008-06-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day I made a double batch of this cake, which is really super easy, and turned one batch into a 9x13 cake, and the other into an 8x8 and 15 cupcakes... large cake for my family and my dad, cupcakes for Chuck (and us... lol), and 8x8 for his parents. I topped the cakes with whipped cream and then decorator's icing. The cupcakes have no whipped topping, as we'll be adding that seperately later.

Cocoa Fudge Cake

Ingredients

-1 2/3 cup flour
-1 1/2 cup sugar
-2/3 cucp cocoa
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-salt
-1 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice mixed with milk to make 1 1/2 cup)
-1/2 cup shortening
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour pans (see below). Beat all ingredients in a large mixer bowl on low 30 seconds, scraping constantly. Beat on high, scraping bowl occasionally, 3 minutes. Pour into pans.

Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. cool. Frost if desired.

13x9 pan - 35-40 min
2 round 8 or 9inch layers - 30-35min
bundt cake pan - 40-45 min
2 1/2 dozencupcakes (fill 1/2 in papers) - 20 min

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

2008-06-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to bring cookies to a friends house for supper, and since I already had chocolate chip, I figured I'd try something I've never made before, these Carrot Coconut Cookies, as they looked "healthy" in the sense that they add veggies to a "treat". They took a bit for me to make as I hadn't planned in advance. I suggest cooking an extra amount of carrots next time you make them for supper, and then mashing them or however you choose to do so later so you decrease prep time. This recipe came from Betty Crocker's cookbook.

I'll warn you, these cookies are good!

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

Ingrediants

1 cup mashed cooked carrots (about 4 medium or 20 baby)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup shortening (I used 1/2 shortening, 1/2 butter)
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour (I did half and half, next time will be all WW)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded/flaked coconut
Frosting

1. Heat oven to 400F. Mix sugar and shortening, then add carrots and eggs. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt mix. Stir in coconut.

2. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet (un-greased if nonstick). Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, or 8-9 minutes.

3. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool. Frost with Orange Butter Frosting.

Makes about 3-5 dozen.

Orange Butter Frosting

Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar into 2-3 tablespoons of softened butter (little at a time to prevent frustrations). Add 1-2 tablespoons of orange juice gradually until frosting is of spreading consistency.

Mix-&-Match Potato Dinners

2008-06-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe I really like to make. I make a double batch using one pound of hamburger, then freeze one and bake the other. It keeps in the freezer for 3 weeks, and each recipe is good for 2-3 people. I got this recipe from Kraft.

Mix-and-Match Potato Dinners

1. Mix 2 cups frozen hashbrowns and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese in a 9x13inch baking dish

2. Layer with 1 cup each of cooked meat, your favorite sliced veggies, and sauce. Sprinkle with more cheese.

3. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.

Here are the combos Kraft suggests:

boneless skinless chicken breasts with onions and peppers, and barbecue sauce

ground beef with corn and green onions, and salsa

pepperoni with mushrooms and onions, and pizza sauce

meatless with broccoli, zucchini, and peppers, and canned tomatoes.

I prefer the ground beef with mixed frozen veggies and salsa myself.

Recipes Part XV: Bran Muffins (may5, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:40:00.001-07:00

Today I made Bran Muffins for our trip (great on the go breakfast), and decided to post the recipe. I think I got it off of a package of bran years ago.

Bran Muffins

Ingredients
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup raisins or blueberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add molasses and eggs, beat well. Add milk and bran. Add flour mixture. Add raisins or blueberries if desired. Bake 18-20 minutes.
Makes 1 dozen large muffins.

And my fave, serve with chopped fruit and yogurt. Mmmmm.

Recipes Part XIV: Zesty Shrimp Pasta (may5, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

We made this one a while back, and I forgot to post it. It's pretty good, as it's really different from normal. However, I got tired of it pretty quick (Chuck really liked it though). I think it would have been better served with a salad rather than alone, or with garlic toast rather than plain. I got this recipe from Kraft as well.

Zesty Shrimp and Pasta
Prep: 10min Total: 25min

Ingrediants

300g linguine, uncooked (I used spegghetti)

1/3 cup Italian dressing, divided

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (didn't have these, used one can)

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (I got a cheaper can and it had hard leaves in it... not so appetizing)

1 lb cleaned uncooked large shrimp (or however much you want)

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or just add dried stuff... again, however you want)

1/4 cup Parmesan grated cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package

Heat 1/4 cup dressing in a large skillet on medium heat. Stir in mushrooms, artichokes and onions. Cook 3 minutes or till onions are crisp-tender.

Add shriimp and parsley. Stir; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are pink and veggies tender, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta; return to pot. Add shrimp mixture and remaining dressing. Sprinkle with cheese.

Makes 6 servings, 1 cup each.

Substitute: Instead of artichokes, add 1 large red pepper, chopped.

Recipes Part XIII: Roasted Potatoes (april 21, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here's another recipe I made last week that was really good! Great with burgers, hot dogs, steak, or anything barbeque. (got this recipe from Kraft)

Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese
Prep: 15min
Total: 1hour 10min

Ingrediants
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup mozza shredded cheese
1/4 cup bacon bits
2 lb (900g) small red potatoes, quartered (we used regular potatoes chopped)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or enough dry for your tastes)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix dressing, cheese and bacon bits in large bowl. Add potatoes; toss lightly.
Spoon into lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Cover with foil.
Bake 40 min. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 min, or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.
Makes 8 servings, 2/3 cup each.

Recipes Part XII; Skillet Salmon (april 21, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

We decided to try something new today for supper. It was really good! I love salmon. We served it with brown and wild rice, and salad. (got this recipe from Kraft)

20-Minute Skillet Salmon
Prep: 10min
Total: 20min

Ingrediants
2 tsp oil
4 salmon fillets (1 lb)
125 g (1/2 250g tub) herband garlic cream cheese
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill (or dry dill to your tastes)

Heat oil in a large skillet on med-high heat. Add salmon; cook 5 min each side or until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
Add milk, then cream cheese to the skillet. Cook and stir until cream cheese is melted and mixture is well blended. Stir in cucumbers and dill.Return salmon to skillet. Cook 2 min or until heated through. Serve salmon topped with cream cheese sauce.
Makes 4 servings.

Recipes Part XI: Hamburger Biscuit Bake (feb 28, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been awhile since I "published" any recipes. I decided to put up one of my faves which I just made 2 nights ago.

Hamburger Biscuit Bake

Ingredients
- 1lb lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup shredded mozza cheese
- 1/4 cup mayo (I like to add a little more... last time I doubled it
- 2 Tbsp parsley
- Biscuit dough

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cook beef and onion. Stir in cheese, mayo, & parsley.
Make biscuit dough (see recipe following). Roll out into two circles. Put one in a round casserole dish (should come up sides of dish, like a crust), place meat inside it, and place the second circle over top (smaller circle usually).
Bake 20-25 minutes. Serve with Sauce (recipe below)

Biscuit Dough
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp lard
- salt
- 1 1/4 cup milk

Cut lard into dry ingredients (till resebling fine crumbs). Stir in milk so that dough leaves the side of the bowl and forms a ball. Knead dough on slightly floured surface. Roll out 1/2 inch thick. (continue with recipe above. To bake on their own, cut, place on pan and bake at 425F for 10-12 minutes)

Sauce
- 1 tin cream of mushroom soup
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup milk (depends how thick you like it)
- 1 cup (or more) frozen veggies.

Boil soup and milk. Add veggies (you can cook them seperate. I microwave them for 5 minutes in a plastic container).

Recipes Part X: Cheesy Tortilla Bake (Jan 16, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

I just made these today and they are quite tasty! Chuck loved them so much he stuffed himself! Ha ha.

Easy Cheesy Tortilla Bake
serves 2
a little oil
1/2 cup Miracle Whip dressing
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
shredded cheese
4 flour tortillas
chicken strips (2 breasts)
salsa
veggies of your choice (mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini, or whatever you wish... I used mushrooms and celery)

COOK chicken in a little oil in a frypan until almost cooked. Stir in a few spoonfuls salsa and a handful per person of sliced vegetables. Set aside.
MICROWAVE Miracle Whip dressing, flour and milk for 4-6 minutes, or until heated through, stirring after 3 minutes. Add in a few handfuls shredded cheese and stir until melted. Pour into frypan with meat and vegetables, reserving a little sauce for topping.
FILL tortillas with mixture, wrap and place in a baking dish. Top with reserved sauce and a little more cheese.
Bake at 375° F for 25 minutes.

Recipes Part IX: Everyday Easy Brownies and Spinach Artichoke Dip (Jan 10, 2008)

2008-05-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yup, I finally decided to add recipes again. It's been awhile. These are two of the recipes I made for my Tupperware party! I love them!

Everyday Easy Brownies

1. Partially melt 4 squares of chopped bakers unsweetened baking chocolate with 3/4 cup butter in the microwave on MED for 3 minutes. Stir until completely melted
2. Add 3 eggs and stir till well blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
3. Spread in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

I added peanut butter and chocolate chips on the top after baking, letting them melt, then swirled them together. You can do similar with creamcheese (mix 1 pkg with 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, and some jam) but put this on the top of the unbaked brownies before putting them in the oven (swirl/cut in with a knife). Or you can make them rocky road with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, putting back in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Baked Triple Veggie Dip

1 1/2 cups parmesan grated cheese

2 cans asparagus spears, drained and chopped (I omitted this as they are expensive)

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 container herb and garlic cream cheese spread

1/2 cup mayo

Preheat oven to 375 F. Reserve 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Mix remaining ingrediants till blended

Spoon into 2L baking dish, sprinkle with reserved parmesan

Bake 35 minutes or till lightly browned. Serve with corn chips, crackers, or veggies!

Makes 4 1/2 cups

Recipes Part VIII: Cream Cheese Cookies (aug 17, 2007)

2008-05-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

I recently made these cookies again. I love this recipe. They taste kinda like white cookies, but are made with cream cheese. If you have a good blender, you can add all the ingrediants as listed, and just let it go! I've made these for baby showers (the pics are from one in 2005), bake sales (I like to use heart cutters, or daisies and butterflies), and just for at home. You can eat them plain, add some icing, or dip them in chocolate pudding. Not the healthiest of recipes, but who says we can't have a bit of unhealthy stuff once in awhile!

Cream Cheese Cut-Outs
Ingrediants
1 pkg (250g) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed till well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well.
Roll dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness on floured surface. Cut into shapes. Place on greased baking sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown slightly (I tend to do it a bit less than 10 minutes, unless I cut them a bit thick). Transfer to wire rack and cool.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen, 3" cookies.

These cookies freeze really well! I like to make double or triple batches and freeze them. You can eat them frozen too!

Recipes Part VII: Zucchini Bread and cake (aug 6, 2007)

2008-05-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe is Zucchini bread. Really good stuff too. The recipe I got that I modified is from the internet somewhere. It called for more oil and double the sugar, but I like things with a bit less sugar, and quite honestly didn't think the recipe needed 1 cup per loaf. So, here you go.

Zucchini Bread

Ingrediants
- 1 cup walnuts/pecans, chopped (I omitted these, as I didn't have any)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)
- 1/3 cup veggie oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder. With a hand mixer on medium speed, beat till ingredients are blended (30 seconds).
Add flour; mix till moistened. Stir in nuts and zucchini. Pour batter into a greased and floured (I didn't bother flouring mine) loaf pan.
Bake 65-75 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Here is another recipe. I didn't make it this time, but I've made it before.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and cocoa. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. add zucchini. mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix well. Pour into bundt cake pan or tube pan (greased and floured or sprayed with cooking spray).
Bake at 350 F for 60 min or until firm on top. Frost with melted chocolate.

Recipes Part VI: Salmon with Brown Rice Pilaf (jul 27)

2008-05-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe is salmon and brown rice. It is really good, and since I didn't think there was enough veggies, I served it with some mixed veggies, about 1/2 cup. It tasted REALLY good, mostly due to the garlic and ginger in the salmon, and the peppers and onion in the rice.

Asian Salmon with Brown Rice Pilaf

Brown Rice:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1/2 onion, chopped

- 1/2 red or green bell pepper, chopped

- 2 cups water

- 1 cup short grain brown rice (I used brown long grain mixed with wild rice)

- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salmon Ingredients:

- 2 skinless salmon fillets (about 4 ounces each)

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root

- 1 teaspoon soy sauce

- 1 teaspoon maple syrup

- 2 green onions, chopped (I omitted this because I had none)

For rice, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 3 minutes. Add water and rice; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed (or, if you have a steamer, follow the directions on the steamer for 1 cup dry rice, and add the cooked rice and bell pepper).

Fluff with fork; stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Meanwhile, place salmon in a pie plate or shallow dish. Combine remaining salmon ingredients; mix well. Pour marinade over salmon; let stand 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat a ridged grill pan over medium heat until hot. Add salmon, discarding marinade; cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until salmon is opaque and firm to the touch. Serve with brown rice.

Makes 4 servings, takes 1 hour

Nutritional Information

Calories - 467

Fat - 20 g

Fiber - 2.7 g

Carbs - 42.5 g

Sugar - 2.4 g

Protein - 27.25 g

Sodium - 155 mg

Calcium - 48.6 mg

Magnesium - 49.2 mg

Potassium - 613.7 mg

Recipes Part V: Cabbage Soup (jul 23, 2007)

2008-05-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

This is an actual diet recipe. I remember my mom making this one a long time ago, and I found it again online. It's supposed to really help clean out your system and help you burn fat. It's super low on calories, and high in fiber. And it's not bad! It reminds me of cabbage borsht, without the sausage.

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients
1 head of cabbage
2 onions
2 green peppers
1 celery
1 can of peeled tomatoes
2 vegetable bouillon cubes

Chop all the vegetables in small pieces, and put them in a pot with the bouillon and enough water to completely cover the vegetables.
Heat and boil for 10 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables are done.
Add any spices you like (I really like pepper, but you can add whatever. Just try not to add too much salt)
Makes about 15-17 cups of soup. Estimated at 10 servings of 1.5 cups each

Nutritional Information

Calories - 53.6
Fat - 0.6 g
Carbs - 11.9 g
Protein - 2.3 g
Fiber - 3.3 g
Sodium - 202 mg

Recipes Part IV: Spegghetti Squash and Meatballs (jul 19, 2007)

2008-05-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today's supper was really good. I made a recipe I saw on tv while flipping through channels. Spegghetti squash and for meat, meatballs! It was really good! Unfortunetely, I forgot to take a picture of it, so I don't have one. Sorry.

Spegghetti Squash

-1 medium spegghetti squash
-14oz can stewed tomatoes (diced tomatoes work too)
-1 tsp oregano
-1 can mushrooms (recipe asked for 1/2 cup chopped pimento stuffed olives, but I prefer mushrooms)
-little salt and pepper

Take a medium spegghetti squash, cut down the center lengthwise. Scoop seeds out of center, and place the halves in a slow cooker. Mix remaining ingrediants, and place into the scooped out centers of the squash.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
To serve, cut each in half again and pull the spegghetti squash from the peel, trashing the peel.
Makes four servings

Nutritional Information
Per serving
Calories - 128
Protein - 5.5 g
Fat - 0.6 g
Carbs - 27 g
Fiber - 5.3 g
Sodium - 631.8 mg

Meatballs

-1lb ground beef
-2 slices bread, in crumbs
-1/3 cup finely chopped carrots
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-1 egg
-1/4 cup bbq sauce
-pepper

Mix all ingrediants, roll into 1 inch balls (about 30), bake 20 minutes at 400 F.
1 serving is 5 meatballs (or total makes 6 servings). I baked 1/3 of the recipe and froze the rest on a baking sheet before bagging.

Nutritional Information
Calories - 172
Protein - 18.4 g
Fat - 5 g
Carbs - 5.1 g
Fiber - 0.7 g
Sodium - 86.9 g

Recipes Part III: Granola Bars (Jul 18, 2007)

2008-05-23T20:00:00.001-07:00

Today I decided to add a recipe for something sweet... granola bars. These are pretty adaptable, as you can add almost anything you want as extras. This recipe has been adapted from a website, as I've added less than half the sugar, omit the salt, and change what I add into the bars.

Granola Bars
Ingrediants
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup butter
-2 Tbsp honey
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-1 egg
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 cups rolled oats
-1 1/4 cups rice krispies

Add ins (add as many or few as you want)
1/2 cup choc chips
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup nuts
1/2-1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup all bran

1. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add honey, vanilla, and egg. Mix well.

2. Blend in flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir in remaining ingrediants.

3. Press firmly into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Or, in the microwave, nuke on medium power for 7-9 minutes, and rotate dish every 3 minutes (unless, your microwave does that for you).

4. Cool, and cut into 24 bars.

Nutritional Information per bar
This info is based on the addition of the all bran, peanut butter, coconut, and chocolate chips.
Calories - 182
Fiber - 2g
Fat - 10g
Protein - 4g
Carbs - 22.5

Note: A large amount of carbs and calories (about 40 calories per piece) is due to the chocolate chips alone. The peanut butter is a great source of protein... although also a large source of fat (but it's all the good kind), and contributes about 35 calories per peice. Butter... another38 calories per piece... due solely to fat. I'm thinking of seeing how apple butter works...

Enjoy!

Recipes Part II; Black Bean Soup & Greek Salad (jul 17, 2007)

2008-05-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello once again. I attempted something new for lunch today, and both of us found it quite tasty! I got the recipe from "You: On a Diet", and modified it a bit to suit what we had in our kitchen, and what I was willing to do. Anyway, here it is... Black bean soup and Greek Salad (with homemade dressing... Yummers!)

Black Bean Soup

-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
-1/2 onion, chopped
-1 garlic clove, sliced
-1 carrot, chopped
-1 stalk celery, chopped
-1 quarts (4 cups) low salt vegetable stock or broth (I used 4 cups boiling water and one cube of Knorr veggie boullion)
-1 can (15 or 16 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (if you have whole, just crush them)
-1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
-1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (I didn't use fresh...)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add garlic, carrot and celery; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add stock, beans, coriander and cayenne pepper; simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar.
4. Transfer to blender or food processor; process to desired consistency (I used a hand blender right in the pot). Reheat if necessary. Ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with cilantro (or not).
Makes 4 servings

Greek Salad

Dressing Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (Apple cider vinegar works too)
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/2 teaspoon honey
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients:
-1 head romaine lettuce, torn
-1 tomato, quartered (I didn't use a full tomato)
-4 pepperocini peppers (didn't have this... not on the salad then)
-1 small cucumber, sliced
-1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled low fat feta cheese (I used cottage cheese and added it on my plate)
-Several sprigs fresh dill, chopped
-1/2 green bell pepper, sliced into rings (I didn't feel like chopping any more... so I didn't add this)
-8 calamata olives (didn't have any... so I omitted them)

1. Combine all dressing ingredients except salt and pepper; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl; toss with dressing
Makes 2 servings (in our case, more like 3 or 4)

Nutrition Facts

Now for the nutrition facts, which are for the entire meal (if you only have one serving of each)
Calories - 305 (Wow! Not a whole lot, huh!)
Total fat- 16.3 g
Saturated - 3.75 g
Healthy fats - 11 g
Fiber - 10.6 g (Check this! Over 1/3 of your recommended fiber!)
Carbs - 33 g
Sugar - 11 g
Protein - 13 g
Sodium - 1260 mg
Calcium - 193 mg
Magnesium - 43 mg
Selenium - 1 mcg
Potassium - 968.4 mg

Recipes Part I: Cheesy Burritos mix'n'match (Jul 16, 2007)

2008-05-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you may or may not know, I've been attempting to improve the health of both myself and my husband through diet and exercise. One of the many things I wish to delve a bit deeper into is finding ways to eat more veggies and fruits, both of which are lacking in the North American diet. I also aim to eat more fish... which I've had a hard time with due to cost.

I decided I will post some of these recipes up for all to enjoy! I like meals that are quick to prepare and don't require a whole lot of strange ingrediants... although I'm willing to try new stuff. This evening I made an interesting dish for supper. It's kinda like burritoes, only it had no meat in it. There are different variations I'd like to try in the future, but since I forgot to thaw the meat (oops), I opted for the meatless variety.

Cheesy Burritos

Ingrediants:
Shredded cheese, any flavor (one cup plus extra for the top)
4 whole wheat large soft tortillas
1 1/2 cups salsa (I used mild, it depends on how spicy you want it)
extra vegetables (frozen or fresh. I used fresh cucumber and carrots)

PLUS any one of the following
- chicken cut into strips (about 1 lb)
- Ground beef (about 1 lb)
- refried beans
- vegetables (I used one yellow onion and one green pepper, chopped)

1 - Brown meat (or beans, or onion/green pepper) and a handful (per person) of veggies over medium-high heat. Drain any fat. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa and 1 cup cheese.

2 - Spread 1 cup salsa in 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon 1/4 of the meat mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place each tortilla, seam side down, on top of the salsa. Top with more salsa and cheese.

3 - Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes (or until they are heated through)

Notes: Chuck absolutely LOVED this dish. The mild salsa got spicier upon heating (I use PC brand), and he loves that. We had one burrito left over when we finished, so this will serve 2-4 people, depending on how much you eat. If you are pressed for time in the evening, you can prepare this in the morning, place it in the fridge, then pop it in the oven for 30 minutes before you wish to eat.

This recipe is from Kraft Kitchens cookbook, "Dinner on Hand"

Time to Cook

2008-05-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to take all the recipes I've posted on facebook and organize them into one spot... here! I will first post all the recipes I had on facebook... including the pictures I had with them, then I will continue to post any favorite recipes and new ones that we make that we enjoy. I hope this page will help you in your quest for different recipes. Hopefully I will be able to divide the recipes later into different categories for easy browsing. Enjoy!